Proposal to Remove 55, 000 Arabs from U.N. Relief Rolls Reported

Lawrence Michelmore, director-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Administration, proposes in his forthcoming report to the United Nations General Assembly to remove the names of 55, 000 Arab refugees from the UNRWA relief rolls, the Arab press in Jordan reported today.

The report to the UN Assembly states that nearly 20 per cent of the Arab refugees are now self-supporting and no longer need UNRWA aid and that nearly 40 per cent are able to support themselves partly.

An earlier Arab story this summer on the forthcoming report touched off widespread protests in the Arab world and a reply from UNRWA headquarters in Beirut that the reports were “premature.” On that occasion, however, the UNRWA office in Beirut admitted that the rolls were under review and that UNRWA intended to rectify widely criticized abuses of its aid to refugees.